OKAY I’M FINALLY POSTING THIS AFTER 5 MILLION YEARS SIX MONTHS! OTL Too lazy to change the intro so HERE WE GO!
It’s been a while since I have completed the Happy End to Wilfred’s route in Be My Princess, non-GREE version, but there are still some things that I’d like to let out about it. While this is mainly about the non-GREE version of the game, I will also mention events in the GREE version every now and then. This isn’t a review as much as it is my thoughts and rants on the route, so if you plan to play this route, in either the GREE or non-GREE version, then I have to warn you:
SPOILERS AHEAD.
Wilfred A. Spencer is the second son of the Royal Family of Philip Kingdom and is the Crown Prince of Philip. Because his older brother, Stephen, left the royal family to become a doctor, all responsibility and inheritance was passed to Wilfred, which is everything he didn’t want. He first comes off as being “above the clouds,” cold and indifferent, and doesn’t speak much, constantly showing no emotion and not knowing how to be considerate of others. He is really fond of animals and plants because they don’t speak and admits he doesn’t like talking with people. He also expresses a dislike for carrots, but does not directly say that he hates them despite how obvious it is that he does. He also keeps a flower plant in his office that helps him relax, though Claude mentions that Prince Wilfred does not allow anyone to touch his stuff, not even his flowers. He is unsure of whether or not he is fit to become the King that Philip Kingdom needs, afraid he will be a King who is an embarrassment to his country, and his parents worry about whether or not he can communicate properly when he is away for public affairs or official functions. Lord Noble Michel has stated that Wilfred is in the position he is in because he did not want to sadden his parents and was pressured by the expectations of the people around him. Wilfred also expresses desire in wanting to a live a life that commoners live, wishing to sneak out of the castle and enjoy a “normal commoner” day.
Along with everything else that was passed to him, he was also passed an arranged marriage with Cecille Germaine, Countess of Charles, whose family made a contract with the Spencer family that she would marry the next King of Philip. She was to originally marry Stephen, who she is in love with and who returns her feelings, but can’t because he gave up the throne, with the engagement along with it, and therefore must marry Wilfred. Wilfred is aware of the relationship between Stephen and Cecille, and it gives him more reason to hate his position since he feels they can’t be together because of him. He even admits that the only reason he was doing all of this was because he believed he had to in Stephen’s place.
Following him around is Claude, the Exclusive Royal Steward and the Spencer Family’s royal butler. He’s been taking care of Wilfred since they were children and, at some point along the way, became very strict in making sure Wilfred followed through with his royal duties and become the perfect prince to succeed the throne. He dislikes Stephen very much and blames him for Wilfred’s unhappiness, since it is because of Stephen’s selfishness to become a doctor instead of succeeding the royal throne that everything was forced onto Wilfred when it was obvious that Wilfred never wanted it. Wilfred is cold towards Claude, not showing appreciation towards him and constantly calling him nothing but a servant despite knowing for a fact just how hard and how much Claude works for him and the royal family.
In the prologue, the heroine, an exchange student who attends university in Charles Kingdom, comes across an old man doubling over on the street during her day off. Unaware of who he is, she rushes to him in worry and asks if he’s okay. When he says he doesn’t feel well, she offers to sit at a nearby park bench with him until help arrives while rubbing his back, but he says someone should be coming for him soon. A luxury car then drives up to them and a young man climbs out and makes his way towards them, calling the old man “Master” and asking if something has happened. When the heroine explains that he was not feeling well, the young man asks him if he’s alright. The old man tells him that he’s feeling much better thanks to her. As she dismisses herself after he seems fine with the young man, the old man stops her from leaving. He asks for her name saying he wants to know the name of a person who has treated him with such kindness. He hands her a piece of paper with his number on it saying that he’d like to return the favor, so she should contact that number should she ever need any help. Accepting it without thinking, she begins to say something to him, but he asks again for her name before she could say anything. She tells him her name before they depart.
Later, she is invited by Prince Edward to attend a party at Noble Michel Castle as an apology for her ruined clothing, which became that way when she protected him from being struck by mud from Prince Keith’s passing car in the rain and getting mud on her own clothes. There, she meets the six princes of the six great kingdoms, not knowing they are princes until it is announced at the party.
When it is time to dance with the princes, she begins to make her way to the food table until she hears a voice behind her asking her for a dance.
This is the end of the prologue and the beginning of the individual routes.
She turns around to see Prince Wilfred. After the initial shock, she accepts. After the party, Prince Edward gives her a ride back to home. Once they’ve said their goodbyes, she heads towards her apartment only to find the building engulfed in flames and firefighters preventing her from getting near. She’s lost everything except the one bag she held with her.
She wakes up the next morning in a room in Chateau Philip with Claude in her room serving her tea. She remembers that last night she decided to contact someone, but didn’t know anyone well enough to call at such a late hour. Thinking contacting Prince Edward isn’t an option since she doesn’t know how to contact him and even thinking of contacting a prince is outrageous, she finds the paper with the old man’s number in her pocket. After a while of staring at the piece of paper, she hesitantly calls the number, thinking that it’s rude to call so late at night, but she doesn’t have anyone else to turn to. Once she explains her situation, he sends Claude over to pick her up by car. She arrived at the Chateau not knowing where she was and not meeting anyone else when she entered the room she was staying in.
After getting dressed, she follows Claude out to a large room where she meets with Prince Wilfred again. She asks him if this is his place and, surprised, he asks her if she came without knowing. Claude explains that it couldn’t be helped because it was very late at night and she was taken straight to her room. She asks Prince Wilfred if he knows the gentleman who helped her. When he questions her about it, Claude tells him that she is referring to Lord Michel. This is the first time she’s heard the old man’s name. In the end, Prince Wilfred does not answer her question and instead tells her she needn’t worry about unnecessary things and should just take it easy for now. When she thanks Prince Wilfred for letting her use the room she stayed in, he tells her that he wasn’t the one who made that decision. Claude tells her that they received a call from Lord Michel and the one who made the decision was Prince Wilfred’s father, the King. Prince Wilfred then tells her that if she has any thanks then she should direct them to the King, before leaving in a sour mood. Later, after being shown around by Claude, she returns to her room and calls her parents and the university to explain the situation.
That is pretty much the whole introduction to Prince Wilfred’s route. I did leave some information out, especially from the prologue, since I thought I should only type up what’s important for this route. My first comment is:
The Queen makes an appearance! There are no sprites for the King and Queen, but I already assumed the King would be in the story since I played Wilfred’s GREE route. I finished it not too long ago and didn’t see any appearance by the Queen. It’s been months since I had continued playing the route, so I can’t remember if there was any mention of Wilfred’s mother other than the tiara is passed down from the current Queen to the Princess, who would be the future queen, and a brief mention of her from Stephen. Other than that, it was always the King who appeared when it was necessary. While it was a nice surprise to see the Queen have a role in the route, I wasn’t so happy to see that she was as strict as, if not stricter than, the King, but that’s what her role was supposed to be, I suppose.
So now that I got that out, I have to say something about Claude. I have to admit, at the beginning of the route when he was being all nice and respectful, I felt like the heroine was walking on eggshells without knowing it. Seriously, I thought he was going to snap at her any second like a ticking time bomb. I was so used to Claude from the GREE version, who was mean and strict from the beginning, that I was pretty much just waiting for him to do something mean and rude as I went through the route.
!?
Of course, he did become the strict and rude butler I was so used to. I know some people might be heavily turned off by someone like him, but he’s definitely got my respect because, truthfully, he’s only the way he is because he is so loyal to the royal family that he would do anything for them, even if that means getting rid of something, or someone, who will just cause them trouble or threaten Wilfred’s position. Even Wilfred, in the GREE version at least, has admitted that Claude’s loyalty has always been the greatest of aids to him and mentions in the non-GREE version that Claude is the only one who thinks of him and asks him this and that even if he can’t tell Claude anything. Adding that to the fact that, at the end of the route, Claude admits that he was harsh towards the heroine simply because he was only acting in the best interests of Wilfred and did not believe she was fit to be part of the royal family only shows just how far Claude is willing to go for the family. He even apologizes to the heroine for being so harsh and said that if she had stayed at the Chateau, both she and Wilfred would have just suffered more. He’s even admitted to her that he doesn’t hate her.
But one thing that I really liked a lot about this route was the fact that there were flashbacks that showed that Claude had been serving Wilfred since they were both children, making them pretty much childhood friends. That may not mean a lot, but I honestly thought Claude was a lot older than Wilfred even if he didn’t look like it, meaning Claude is also around the age of 25. Not only that, but they were friends. Wilfred even covered for Claude and said it wasn’t Claude’s fault that he fell into a nearby lake, saying he chose to jump into the lake even after Claude tried to stop him from doing so. After walking off, he tells Claude that there aren’t many people he can trust in the castle and that Claude is the only one, and that one day when he needs protecting, he will turn to Claude. Wilfred also pretty much once calls Claude a crybaby, and Claude asks that maybe someone else would be better fit to be Wilfred’s butler than him. Wilfred agrees with him before saying that while it’s fine because Stephen is there, if he were to ever be next in line to the throne, he wouldn’t be able to do it. However, if someone was depending on them, he wouldn’t want to break their trust. He then gives Claude a Happiness Charm that’s popular in the kingdom, which Stephen had given to him, saying that if it helps Claude to keep trying, he will give it to him. Claude accepts the charm and declares that he will keep trying and has held onto it even after all those years had passed and their relationship was strained.
What made me like this even more is the fact that, after the heroine left the Chateau, Claude gave her the same Happiness Charm that Wilfred gave him as a child. This also went on when, at the end of the route, he wishes her luck in the future after Wilfred proposed to her. She replied that the Happiness Charm he gave her was enough and held it up in front of Claude, Wilfred, Stephen, and Cecille. This then prompted Wilfred to question an embarrassed Claude as to why she has it. Stephen then teased that while he believed that Claude favored Wilfred over anyone else, it seems that it is in fact the heroine who he favors the most. Cecille then adds in that it’s not surprising since the heroine is quite attractive. I thought this was absolutely adorable!
I’ll also say that the fact that Wilfred mentions in an e-mail after the end of the route that Claude has said several times that he hasn’t seen her and asks if she doesn’t think that it’s a bit suspicious that Claude’s so stubborn is also adorable. Reading it, I got the feeling that Claude has come to fully and completely accept her as part of the family and has even come enjoy her company.
I also came to feel for Claude when, after finishing the route, it came to me just how much he must have been hurt when he found out that Wilfred allowed the heroine to care for his office flowers instead of letting Claude do it, even after Claude had insisted on doing so himself. They were both once close friends who, judging on the flashback, played together and may have gone on “adventures” together. And now, their relationship is so strained that Wilfred sees him as just a servant and doesn’t see much of a point in showing any appreciation towards him or even feel comfortable enough to trust him to talk about things on his mind.
One thing I found strange was the first flashback, the one about Wilfred falling into the lake. I thought it was rather awkward and didn’t really add to the story at that point except to show that Claude had been serving Wilfred for years. It felt really out of place. I mean, it did help to bring in the second flashback with the Happiness Charm, but I think they should have shown both flashbacks as one instead of dividing them into separate chapters. As it was, with the next scene being of the heroine waking up in Noble Michel Castle, I honestly thought that she was just dreaming it, which confused me further on how she would know something like that.
Wilfred had his adorable moments as well. His reaction to being called “Wills”, “ウィルりん” in the original Japanese version, was just as cute as in the GREE version. However, choosing “Wills” is the correct answer for getting the Happy or Good End while in the GREE version “Wilfred” would be the correct answer. He did also have some awkward moments, but that seemed to fit more of the distant character that he’s supposed to be, whereas in the GREE version he didn’t seem as distant, though I suppose that would be because of the different circumstances of the story. In the GREE version, I would think it’d make more sense for him to be nice to her from the beginning since she is pretending to be his girlfriend, while in the non-GREE version there is no reason for him to be nice to her in the first place except that she is a guest. He also explains that he dislikes carrots because they taste sweet despite looking like a vegetable while still claiming it’s not that he doesn’t like them. It was also nice to see more of him with his glasses on. I’m hoping we get to see more of the rest of the princes wearing their glasses in their sequels and spinoffs. (Glenn has two pairs of glasses, I don’t know why but he does.)
What definitely threw me off about Wilfred’s character in this route was his kind of perverted jokes. It was such a surprise every time they came up that I found myself rereading what he said just to make sure I didn’t read it wrong. Again, I was so used to the Prince Wilfred in the GREE version who didn’t make these types of jokes that it always caught me off guard.
To be honest, I actually liked the Happy Ending, but not so much the Epilogue. I think the Happy End route would have either been better without it or just had the Epilogue be different. With the Epilogue included as part of the Happy End, I would have to say that the Good End is my favorite. The reason for this is being that there was a small time skip in the Good End, so their being together didn’t seem rushed, as opposed to the Happy End where it was pretty much “Confess, Propose, and Sleep together” all in the same night. I mean, it was bound to happen eventually and they were already engaged and all, but am I the only one who thought and felt like it happened waaaaaaaaay too fast and abrupt? At least in the Good End there was a one month time skip and, while Wilfred was a bit sad sometimes when watching the news about the royal family, he was able to live the normal commoner life he had always wanted with the heroine. I really felt like they were both happy in the Good End while it just felt rather awkward with them together in the Epilogue.
It didn’t help that a “morning after” scene was added and had Claude walk in on them waking up and getting into it again. Really? I really don’t think that was necessary. And if they were trying to go for comedy with that as well as with when the heroine idiotically sits up when Claude first walks in while she’s still naked, then I have to say that they failed. Rather than finding that any sort of funny, I just thought it was stupid and awkward and I just had to take a moment to set my phone down, put my face in my hands, face it to the ceiling of my room, and say out loud, “Voltage, why?”, as the rest of my family wondered in another room who the heck I was talking to and if I’ve finally lost my mind. After letting out a chain of “What. What. What.” as I was playing through it.
When I think more on it after playing the other routes, I think one of the main reasons why the whole “sleeping together” thing felt so fast and awkward to me was because of the fact that the relationship between Wilfred and the heroine didn’t really become an actual thing until the very end of the route. I mean, yeah, you can tell that they were already in love and all. Heck, he even kissed her! But here’s the thing about the kiss:
He told her to forget about it.
The difference between Wilfred’s relationship with the heroine and her relationship with the other princes in their respective routes is that their feelings for each other in the other routes were made clear before the last chapter, which I will hopefully go into more detail in their own posts to compare with this route. Whereas the other princes made it clear how they felt about her, the fact that Wilfred kissed her and then told her to forget about it is the same thing as taking one step forward and two steps back. By telling her to forget about the kiss, he’s pretty much telling her that he didn’t mean it (<–AND HE SAID THIS) and that it may have been a mistake. Of course, I don’t blame her for not being able to forget it, but I mean come on. Maybe I’m thinking too much into it, but “forget about it” may as well be the same as “nevermind, I take it back”, no? That one event may have been just what screwed up the ending for me.
Overall…. well, I don’t know what to say. Wilfred is one of the sweetest guys you can find and his route did have it’s moments, and it hurts me that the Epilogue (and what he said) kind of ruined it for me. He’ll still be a sweetie to me, but I’ll still remember him in a better light in his GREE version. Though I have to say, if you want to feel the story completely, play both versions. I know the GREE version will take a lot of time to complete, but I felt like both versions kind of filled in some gaps for each other that I didn’t realize were there despite being alternative stories.
It really is a shame that I couldn’t enjoy the App version more, especially since I really liked the GREE version. And I don’t really like GREE.
